A bid document will soon be submitted to the International Island Games Association and if it is accepted, the biennial multi-sports event will be held in the island for the first time in 18 years.
The news will be welcomed by the thousands of Islanders who enjoyed a week of sporting action when Jersey hosted the Games earlier this year.
And they are likely to be cheered by the news that the bid is seen as little more than a formality – as the IIGA approached Guernsey about hosting the 2021 event when the original hosts, the Faroe Islands, pulled out earlier this year.
Guernsey Island Games Association director Jon Marley admitted yesterday that only local failings would prevent the event coming to the island.
‘Nothing is totally confirmed because we have to submit that bid document and await acceptance from the IIGA,’ he said.
‘The bid document contains financing and infrastructure options which we are now putting together in conjunction with the Culture and Leisure Department.
‘This final acceptance will come at the IIGA’s next AGM in June 2016, over in Gotland.
‘But the approach now from all islands is that there are no bidding wars and everything is done on a negotiation basis, so as far as we are concerned, barring our own failures, we will be hosting the Island Games in 2021.’
Derek de la Haye, head of sport at the Education Department, who was involved in Jersey’s successful bid, said: ‘Guernsey have a good record of hosting the Games and, if they are successful, I believe they will be the first island to host it three times. They have similar sporting facilities to us but I think that if they do have a problem at all it will be with the number of beds, but I am sure they can overcome that.
‘I believe they are at an early stage with their bid, but if they want help and information from us, be it about budgets or the way we did things, then we would be happy to help.’
Guernsey’s Culture and Leisure Minister Mike O’Hara said that hosting such an event would provide a huge financial boost to the island.
‘It would be great for the island – no doubt about it. There are lots of things we have to consider. Finances are just one of them and accommodation is another. But it does put Guernsey on the map and would be good for the economy as well.’
It is believed that the Games generated £4 million for Jersey’s economy.
